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Turning the Tables – An Interview with the Recruiter

Ever wondered what it would be like to interview the person who is interviewing you? We have! That’s why we here at Job Coconut decided that it would be fun to turn the tables around and interview the recruiter! Put them in the candidate’s shoes!

First up is James Loftus from First Place Recruitment. James is the managing director of First Place Recruitment, a multilingual recruitment company based in Dublin, Ireland. Its primary focus is European candidates with a particular emphasis on filling multilingual jobs in Ireland where the majority of them are located. They specialise in recruiting for entry-level positions more suitable to younger or first time job seekers. Their areas of expertise include sales, customer service and technical support.

Here are the questions he was asked:

1. In your opinion, could you describe the current climate in the multilingual recruitment industry?

The climate is up and down depending on what company you’re looking at. For example, the Irish market is extremely good. This is because there is a skills shortage for European languages and so young people are drawn to Ireland to fill this gap.

2. We all know that certain languages such as German and the Scandinavian languages are difficult to recruit for. Why do you think this is?

I agree that German is a difficult language to recruit for. Germans are not inclined to leave Germany, as unemployment is low and the economy is doing well. In terms of the Scandinavian languages, Danish and Norwegian speakers are particularly difficult to find. This is because of the high quality of life in Scandinavian countries and their great infrastructure. Consequently, they are less willing to relocate.

If you speak German you are in high demand for jobs abroad! Click here for job vacanies!

3. In your opinion, which cities are the most attractive for bilingual speakers, and why?

If you are career oriented then Ireland is the most attractive country. 18 out of the world’s 20 largest companies are located in Ireland. There are great career progression and remuneration packages in Ireland. In terms of lifestyle, however, I would suggest Lisbon and Barcelona.

4. In recent years there have been many relocations of call centres to Eastern Europe. However this has not been the case with Ireland. Why do you think this is?

I don’t agree. Most of the major brands such as IBM, Microsoft, Apple, PayPal and EBay are not outsourcing. According to recent IDA reports a huge amount of jobs have been created in Ireland by contact centres. However, outsourcing companies have relocated to Eastern Europe for cost reduction purposes.

5. Any general advice for bilingual job seekers?

Yes, lots! I believe that there are many qualified candidates out there that are searching for jobs in the wrong way. Many people are applying for too many jobs with no focus. The best approach is to get in touch with a recruiter who can get a feel for what kind of job is the best fit for your skills.

6. Do you have any tips for recruiters and in-house recruiters looking for bilingual people?

Never leave anyone out. Filtering CVs too narrowly is a bad idea. It’s better to give everyone a chance. In general, people might not look great on paper, but if you give people a few minutes of your time you will uncover their talents and potential.

7. What’s the hardest position you’ve ever filled and why?

Mid to high-level German IT and sales jobs are extremely difficult to fill. This is because many companies are offering the same packages to the same small pool of people that fit the criteria. They may get 10 calls from 10 different companies recruiting for basically the same job. Also some language combinations are hard to recruit for. For example, a German customer care specialist with fluent English plus another language.

8. There is a lot of talk about the pros and cons of using a job board. What’s your opinion on this? In terms of the cons what would your advice to jobs boards be in order to keep up with the times?

In my opinion I think that using job boards has more pros than cons. They use a traditional technology that people are comfortable with. There are over 100,000 recruiter tools out there such as different software and apps. In my view these tools are generally fads, as they do not have a sizable user-base to make them viable. A good jobs board can be very effective as they have a larger base. They provide great visibility for brands when they are put together well.

From our team here at Job Coconut we’d like to give a big thank you James Loftus and 1st Place Recruitment. We hope these questions have been helpful for both multilingual job seekers and recruiters. Please let us know what you think by leaving a comment.